Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Blues in King Mix



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As June turns into July...  another cool night of music in East Nashville - this time at The Building.  Ariel Bui, Emma Berkey, Todd Henkin (all local) and Alexandra Scott from New Orleans did a outstanding round, Dylan Lee Johnston did a short set, and #E2TG Artist of the Year Darrin Bradbury closed out the evening. 

Speaking of Bradbury, my show alert of the week is for Thursday night at The 5 Spot. Darrin will be opening for Austin Lucas starting around 9:00.  Should be a fine night, and I am off work Friday so....

I got to take in a couple of shows last week and talk some to Julie Christensen, and I wanted to send out a reminder/alert to her Pre-Order campaign for her new album with her incredible band Stone Cupid.  Here is the link.  You can Pre-Order the album and there are some fine options for merchandise and exclusives. Julie has a long, rich history with many of the best artists of the modern era, and I had the great pleasure to see her and her band play an amazing set at one of the final nights of the original Family Wash.  If you are in Nashville, her next band show is coming up at the end of this month, and I will have more details later.

Now to our first shuffle of this new month...



"Half Awake" by Broken Guru

The first of two Broken Guru songs in the shuffle today.  A vibrant rocking start for the day, but I can't help feel that the title was mocking me as I groggily hit the shuffle button to begin my commute.

"Jack of All Trades" by Soul Asylum

From Hang Time.  And yes, this one always has and always does make me feel like moshing around in a crowd in front a stage.

"Tche Belew" by Hailu Mergia and Low Mentality

Another from the World Café Sessions.  Hailu Mergia is an Ethiopian keyboardist who was member of the legendary Walias Band.  Here is teams up with Low Mentality to do a updated version of the title track of Walias Band's 1977 album.

"Blues in King" by Marshall Crenshaw

So for a moment this morning, as I was driving over the Victory Memorial Bridge in downtown Nashville, I was suddenly transported back nearly 30 years.  As I have mentioned, Marshall Crenshaw's Downtown was released during my early college career, and I have very specific memories of driving across town on a warm evening listening to the album with the windows down on my car.

"Ghost" by Broken Guru

Our second track of the day from New York Alternative band, Broken Guru.

"El Diablo" by Low Society

Boasting powerhouse vocals and killer guitar work grounded by an excellent rhythm section... From Memphis, a town that knows a little something about the Blues... Low Society are the real deal. From their album, You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down...  singing out those devil blues...

"Rain" by Ben Arthur

Another track from his upcoming album, Call and Response.  "Rain" is a good reminder of one of the things that sets Ben Arthur's music apart for me.  His commitment to the craft of songwriting is evident in his work with Songcraft Presents,  Plus he has a great rich and resonate voice.

"Still Remains" by Dead in 5

Detroit rockers - Dead in 5 always inject some energy and attitude into the shuffle whenever one of their songs come up.  "Still Remains" has all of the hallmarks of a great rock song.  It is relentless, has a great hook, and man, does it rock hard.

"She Loves Love" by Michael Sackler-Berner

It's a happy coincidence that a Michael Sackler-Berner song and a Marshall Crenshaw song appear in the same shuffle.  Crenshaw has been worked with Sackler-Berner on some of his recent songs, and he is also an excellent standard bearer fron the kind of intelligent Pop songs that Crenshaw has been making for years, and which is in short supply these days.


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